Resilient Nets never say die

Shoot for three-game western sweep in Phoenix

November 27, 2024 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Jalen Wilson and the Nets surged past the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors on the first two legs of their western swing. AP Photo by Randall Benton

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The Brooklyn Nets have a lot of questions in regard to their injury-decimated roster heading into Wednesday night’s road-trip finale in Phoenix.

One thing that is unquestionable, however, is Brooklyn’s resolve in the face of such adversity.

The severely shorthanded Nets were down to only seven available players midway through the third quarter of Monday night’s improbable 128-120 come-from-behind victory at Western Conference-leading Golden State.

Now, they’ll head to the Footprint Center and take on former Nets superstar Kevin Durant and the Suns looking for their third consecutive win out west, and fourth in five games overall.

“We all just went to the bench and said, ‘We just gotta chip away, chip away, fight and just have grit.’” Brooklyn forward Jalen Wilson recalled after the Warriors slumped back to their locker room in disbelief thanks to a never-say-die effort that rookie coach Jordi Fernández deemed “amazing”.

“It’s so fun to go out and compete and to do it all together,” added Wilson, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

The Nets (8-10) were trailing by 18 points when leading scorer Cam Thomas, who is out for Wednesday’s game in the desert, went down with a sore left hamstring.

Starting forward Cam Thomas wasn’t available after halftime due to a sprained right ankle that might sideline him again vs. the Suns (10-7).

Brooklyn began the night without Ben Simmons (back management), Noah Clowney (ankle), Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle) and Nic Claxton (back), each of whom is listed as day-to-day as the Nets look to complete their first three-game winning streak under Fernández.

The biggest question entering this campaign was whether or not the Nets were in full-blown rebuilding mode, and likely looking to trade off whatever veteran assets they had in the hopes of landing favorable picks in the lottery.

Instead, they have answered the bell and fought to the finish virtually every night despite an assortment of injuries and player absences.

“Whatever it takes!” Brooklyn point guard Dennis Schröder exclaimed after spearheading the Nets’ rally in San Francisco with 17 of his 31 points coming in the final 12 minutes.

Shake Milton and the rest of the Nets’ reserves are stepping up to keep Brooklyn relevant despite numerous injuries this year. AP Photo by Phil Long

The Nets are hopeful that Day’Ron Sharpe will see his first action of the year in the next week or so. The 6-foot-10 reserve center has been out since training camp with hamstring issues, but is on the mend and slowly participating in team activities.

Simmons sat out both ends of Brooklyn’s back-to-back wins in Sacramento and Golden State, and Clowney will remain on the bench in Phoenix after leaving the win against the Kings in the fourth quarter.

Claxton, whom the Nets inked to a four-year, $100 million pact as a foundation piece in the offseason, is nursing a sore back that Fernández and the team’s medical staff are monitoring closely.

He returned from a recent three-game hiatus due to the injury, and put up four points, seven rebounds, three assists, a pair of blocked shots and a steal in 23 minutes in Sacramento on Sunday.

Whether Claxton returns to the hardwood Wednesday or not, the Nets know they can overcome almost anything after outscoring the Warriors, 60-32, over the final 20 minutes of Monday’s stirring triumph.

Forward Ziaire Williams, who filled in at center, had 19 points and 10 rebounds, seldom-used Shake Milton added 13 points and “Bench Mob” regulars Trendon Watford and Keon Johnson added eight apiece.

Even two-way G-League forward Tyrese Martin drained a big 3-pointer to go with six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot in a season-high 18 minutes.

“I think all seven guys that finished toward the end … Jalen Wilson, Ziaire, Dennis, Shake and T-Wat and Keon and Tyrese. That group was amazing,” gushed Fernández.

Though he is well aware that management and ownership is looking for bigger and better things going forward, either via free agency or next year’s draft, Fernández is building his team’s conditioning and effort on both ends of the hardwood.

Though he won’t do so at the expense of his players’ health.

“What we need (from) them is to believe that they’re good to go. And if we feel like a guy is not confident, we’re gonna let them make the decision. I think that’s fair,” he noted prior to Monday’s game.

“If you play and you are afraid to get hurt, guess what? You’re going to get hurt. So we don’t want that for Nic or anybody in our group.”

Phoenix finally got healthy in time to end a season-high five-game losing streak with a 127-100 rout of the visiting Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday behind 23 points apiece from Durant and Bradley Beal, both of whom had been out with injuries.

Durant had missed the previous seven contests with a strained left calf and Beal sat out all five of the Suns’ losses with the same ailment.

Devin Booker put up 26 points and handed out 10 assists for Phoenix, which improved to 9-1 with Durant in the lineup this year.

The two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player will likely have to see how he responds to his first game action in nearly three weeks before he and the Phoenix medical staff decide whether he should suit up against his former team.

Durant averaged 29.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 129 games over three seasons in Brooklyn before being dealt to the Suns in February 2023 for Johnson, Mikal Bridges and a bevy of future draft picks.

The Nets split two meetings with Phoenix last season, pulling out a 116-112 victory at Footprint Center on Dec. 13 before Durant’s 33 points shushed the Barclays Center crowd as the Suns raced to a 136-120 triumph in the rematch on Jan. 31.

“I love to shut the crowd up. Even though I love these people here, I love to shut them up,” he said of his return to Brooklyn.

Back from a calf injury, Kevin Durant may be available for duty when the Phoenix Suns host the Brooklyn Nets on Thanksgiving Eve. AP Photo by Rick Scuteri

NOTHING BUT NET: After finishing off this four-game trip, which began with an NBA Cup loss at Philadelphia last Friday, the Nets will return to Barclays for a two-game set with Orlando. They will host the Magic Friday night in their group-stage Cup finale, and play Orlando again Sunday afternoon on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.